Just my opinion

The check your kids write to the undertaker off your bank account should bounce.

We are in or 60's now. It is not my right to judge anyone or tell them how to live. But I will say this as I look back, when we were raising the kids, we took vacations, both camping and flying. Bought boats and trailers, (none cash) We put in a small back yard pool. We remolded houses, and in general spent a lot of money we did not need to. Often we did it on credit cards, paid interest, and in general did a lot of things. We did not have to. And a few times those credit card balances got pretty high

We did however buy a small office bldg., 30 years ago, which has greatly helped with any planned retirement. So we will be good in retirement.

If I have any regrets it would be

1) We did not do more of it, vacations etc
2) I worried to much about my career. And did not take more time off with the kids

Once those kids and your youth are gone, they are gone. you will never get those times back. I would much rather have those memories than any extra money we would have in the bank, had we not done those things.

But that is just me and us. not up to me to judge other's choices

DallasSteve wrote:
It's been suggested by one of the members that most people can't be expected to accomplish what I accomplished and be able to pay cash for big ticket items like an RV because it's usually the result of good luck or rich parents. Let's look at my good luck.

I was lucky enough to be born in the USA. Did anybody else here have that good luck?

I was lucky enough to have good parents. Anybody else?

My parents were middle class; they died with a combined estate of about $100K that my brother and I split. I used most of my share to buy two new cars for my 2 oldest children. Woo hoo! We's Rich!

I was lucky enough to be able to work 40 hours a week in my early 20s with a wife and 2 kids while going to night school to get a degree in accounting. Some people call that luck, I guess.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend hundreds of hours studying for the CPA exam (in the evening after work) and pass while others had the bad luck to be out drinking and partying.

I was lucky enough to decide to change careers at 40 and to spend hundreds of more hours studying computer books to pass Microsoft certification exams (in the evening after work) while others had the bad luck to be drinking and watching football.

I was lucky enough to defer expensive purchases and vacations so that I could save for my retirement and college for my son while others had the bad luck to be running up credit card debt to live for today.

I was lucky enough to never smoke nor do drugs and to quit drinking in my 20s when others had the bad luck to keep wrecking their health. I also exercised regularly and ate healthy - more good luck.

I could go on, but you get the picture. None of what I have is the result of wise decisions, hard work, and sacrifice - it was all just good luck.

There are many variables at play. I live in a part of the country where a young couple need the better part of a decade to save up just the down payment for their first home. That home is likely 50-100 years old and sits on a 60x100 foot lot. Property taxes will be anywhere from 500-1000 dollars per month. Electricity is expensive here too. Winters are cold and heat costs money. Car insurance is likely more expensive than most areas. I could go on and on.
The idea that this couple could ever save money to buy all of their cars, vacations, RV's, etc for cash is not realistic. Unless they live in Mom and Dad's basement for a couple of decades. If they were to wait for full financial solvency before they started to really live life a little they could drop dead before it happened.
This is not meant to knock your post, or your life decisions. They have obviously served you well. Hard work and discipline are never bad things. Not everyone is gifted with the intellect or discipline you were. Some people have great hurdles to overcome. They start life out as an adult already behind the eight ball. You had two good parents. Many don't. You were middle class. Many are less than that.
Let's not discount other factors. Local cost of living being just one of them. Health, layoffs, natural disasters, divorce being some others.

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

- Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967

Live fast, love hard, die young, and leave a beautiful memory! (That was my uncle's advise.... um ..... it all "quite" didn't work for him that way. He died at 89.)

Foolish = Asking for advice on how to spend YOUR OWN MONEY on an internet forum.

Locky wrote:
I have noticed quite a few times on this forum when people talk about financing a travel trailer they will get responses saying "save up and pay cash". Well here is my take on it:

Much clipped to save bandwidth.

NOT just your opinion. but that of my College Economics Professor as well... And... One I share.

Most people do not think about this but when you put money in the bank these days they pay a fraction of a percent in interstt. A thousand dollars won't earn but a few cents in interest per year.


But inflation is much, much, much, higher so you are loosing value every day with money in the bank.

ON the other hand.. That loan, may the interest may well be LESS than inflation.. So you are getting ahead.. But in either case, even if inflation does not outpace your interest rate.. You are not falling behind as fast.

If I were to explain the way I did it, no doubt that someone would think I was telling them what to do, and how to do it. Suffice it to say that my way doesn't work for everyone. Heck, it didn't work that great for me either.

DallasSteve wrote:
It's been suggested by one of the members that most people can't be expected to accomplish what I accomplished and be able to pay cash for big ticket items like an RV because it's usually the result of good luck or rich parents. Let's look at my good luck.

...snip.....

Nobody singled you out as not having made a success of your finances. Many people do. I have been around a long time and have heard people bragging about always paying cash from some not nearly as industrious as you. I have seen fortunes made and lost based on conditions beyond one's control. That does not make them stupid for buying on time or brilliant for always paying cash. And yes, I do consider myself very lucky for being born in the United States of America.

I belong to a wonderful camping group for Single RVers. In LoW's (Loners on Wheels), we refer to our campers as "rigs". A rig can be anything from the bed of a pickup to a $300k diesel motorhome. Makes no difference to us.